E-M Dallas Band Trip Successful

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Published on Monday, 03 May 2010 16:51

Written by thenebraskasigna

by Shane Whitford,

Exeter-Milligan High School Music Instructor

It is amazing how much you can get done in a few short hours. By the time you subtract travel and sleep time we were in Dallas for approximately 30 hours. Surprisingly we covered a lot of ground in that short time and I am proud to say that the Exeter-Milligan students were excellent travelers.

Our itinerary also included a clinic with Frank Troyka at Berkner High School in Richardson, Texas. Troyka has an outstanding music program and he gave us a lot of help on our contest music. I think both the students and I agree that we could have spent more time with him because it was a lot of fun and our sound improved. We had a lot of fun on the trip but I felt there were two highlights that should be mentioned.

First, I just have to say that money can’t buy everything, but $1.4 billion buys a pretty awesome stadium. I was fully prepared for the Dallas Cowboys Stadium Tour to be a little boring since it’s, “just another stadium,” however, I was wrong. This facility holds several world records and aside from its sheer size the quality of the facility was impressive. If you every get a chance to go to an event in the stadium or take a tour I would highly recommend it.

Second, The Meyerson Symphony Center and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra make a great combination. Not only is the Meyerson a beautiful facility designed by one of the worlds top architects, I.M. Pei, but it is also one of the world's most acoustically sound buildings and houses a world class orchestra. Aside from the impressive building, orchestra, and performance of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.”

I was very pleased with the behavior of the students before, during, and after the show. I have never seen students on the edge of their seats at a classical performance and I can only say thank you for being open minded and enjoying yourselves.

As I said before, the students were excellent travelers and I would gladly do it again. I appreciate the parents for all they have done to make this trip a success and praise also goes to the students for making this trip a success.

On a side note, the 7-12 music program has a website now and pictures from the trip, calendar info, and class information can be found there. The address is http://steve-steam.com/whitford/Welcome.html or go to the E-M homepage www.emwolves.org and click on my name.